Starfleet files
by wild wolf free17
Summary: Unconnected drabbles -gen, slash, AU-
1. knowing I would never find you

**Title**: knowing I would never find you

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Anne Sexton.

**Warnings**: spoilers for film

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PGish

**Wordcount**: 655

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: thanks to Creeno for reading over this

* * *

Jim's baking on a desert world while his _Enterprise_ is chased by pirates across the system. Of the away team's six members, he's the only survivor. _Of course_, he thinks, collapsed on the sand_. Of course, I'm alive. _

Not for long, though. No water, no shelter, and an open wound in his side. No, he won't survive for long.

o0o

He has a fuzzy dream, there in the desert. Beings of light come to him and ask him, in one vibrant, echoing voice, _What would you change, James Tiberius Kirk?_

He doesn't understand. He knows he's in a desert worse than any of Earth, but he's cold. Tired. His ship's gone, everyone he loves with her, and if the little light-things would just shut up, he might be able to get some sleep.

_James Tiberius Kirk!_ they say again. _Had you the chance, what would you change?_

It's an easy enough question—Vulcan's destruction, of course.

_Interesting_, the light-people muse_. And what would you give up, to change that?_

_Anything,_ he thinks.

The light pours into him and he doesn't have the strength to scream.

o0o

Jim wakes in his dormroom on Earth, at Starfleet, to Bones yelling, "Up and at 'em!"

He slowly sits up, glancing around. "What?" he asks.

Bones throws his uniform at his head. "You'll be late for the test, if you don't hurry, Jim," he says. "I'll meet you there, okay? There's an experiment I need to check."

Jim nods because Bones expects a response. He can't be here. It's a dying dream or something.

_You know the future, human, _the voices say in tandem, so loud he flinches. _Change it_.

"How?" he asks aloud, throwing his blanket off his legs. "No one'll listen to me."

The ensuing silence seems pensive. _Where in the timeline would be better?_

Shrugging, Jim lets his head drop and closes his eyes. "I don't know," he says. "I guess… put me on the drill, or the _Narada_. Let me take 'em out before they drop the red matter. Or—" He pauses. "Could you get Old-Spock's ship off the _Narada_?"

_No. We can only place your consciousness in your body. We can only let you know what, for you, has not yet come to pass._

"Right," Jim mutters. "Of course. But I was never in the position to actually destroy Nero, or the _Narada_, or the red matter."

_Find a way, James Tiberius Kirk_, the voices command. _We have given you a gift no one not our own has ever experienced. _

"Okay," he says.

o0o

Jim Kirk doesn't show up for the _Kobayashi Maru_. No one ever really figures out what happened to him, but there's a small shuttle missing from a minor San Francisco shipyard and reports of a firefight in Klingon space, but the events are not connected together.

Leonard McCoy wonders what happened to his friend; Christopher Pike wonders where his wunderkind went. They're the only ones who realize he's gone.

Eventually, they both forget.

o0o

How he does it is beyond extraordinary. Chekov and Scotty would be thrilled by his brilliance and then tell him how he could've done it better. Spock would call him a foolish human and show him an easier, quicker Vulcan method. Bones would berate him for his foolhardiness and Uhura would mutter about his ego. Sulu would fly circles around him and still leave time for the beaming aboard.

A mere hours before Nero would've captured Old-Spock, in the same stretch of space where the _Kelvin_ met her end, Jim beams into the engine room of the _Narada_ and blows her up from the inside out.

Old-Spock makes his way to Starfleet and asks after Jim Kirk. He never finds his dearest friend.

o0o

On a desert world, far from the busy hum of civilization, beings of light cradle close the soul of James Tiberius Kirk and vow to tell their children of how selfless bodied-beings can prove to be.


	2. glory shines down on our tears

**Title**: glory shines down on our tears

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; I'm really pretty sure I didn't think up the title's phrasing, but I have no idea where I might've gotten it from.

**Warnings**: spoilers for film

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 240

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: I got the name _Frank_ from the novelization. I went with _Sam_ for Jim's brother because using _George_ would've been confusing.

* * *

What Jim knows about his father is that George Kirk was kind and brave and funny and smart and went out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing himself for the crew, and Mom, and Jim himself. Jim was born in the same minute his father died, and he knows that he could never replace George Kirk. Sam and Mom and even Mom's new husband have all told him so. It wasn't an even trade, Jim for George. George had been better. George was brave and kind and smart and funny, and gave his own life to save others. Jim doesn't think he could ever do that. He doesn't have the courage.

What Jim knows about the car is that it was his father's. And Mom's new husband is selling it away. Mom's off-planet and out of reach, not that the bastard would ask permission, even if he could contact her. Sam storms out, Frank is somewhere inside the house, and Jim is alone with his father's car, the last thing he has of George of Kirk.

Dad went out in a blaze of glory, Jim thinks. It's only right his car does, too. Sam doesn't want the car; Mom left it here like she left them, so she's lost all claim to it. And Frank isn't a Kirk. He has no right to the car.

What Jim knows about driving an antiquated vehicle is nothing, but that doesn't stop him.


	3. I will never regret you

**Title**: I will never regret you

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Jordin Sparks.

**Warnings**: depressing death!fic, yo

**Pairings**: none stated. Implied Kirk/Spock, if you like that

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 280

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: thanks to ratherbe4gotten and fairiekween13 for looking over this one.

* * *

His blood is boiling in his veins, burning as it pours out of him. He feels the chill start in his heart, working its way up and down, following his vacating blood.

"Hey, you'll be alright, alright?" his Captain is muttering, hands pushed hard against the tear in Spock's torso. "They'll beam us up soon. They _will_. You'll be _fine_."

Captain Kirk's voice trembles, but his hands remain firm. Spock tries to answer, to explain that his actions had been the only logical thing to do, but his throat is full of blood and he chokes.

"Damnit, Spock," Captain Kirk whispers, his name ending in a sob. "Shit. There's so much blood…"

Spock wishes to explain _why_ it was logical, wants to take his Captain's—_Jim's_—hand in his own. He wants to tell Jim that guilt would be illogical. That he is not sorry.

"Spock?" Jim asks. "Spock!"

His blood is no longer boiling. Everything sounds distant and looks dim. The only thing he feels is Jim's skin against his, the Captain's futile attempt to stem the flow of blood.

"Spock, c'mon, just a little longer. They'll _be_ here. They _will_." Jim's voice is torn, and there is water on Spock's face though it is not raining.

He tries to speak again; he must reassure his friend that he does not regret this. That he cannot regret it. It is only logical to die in Jim's place—the universe needs Captain Kirk. The _Enterprise_ needs him.

Blood dribbles out his mouth in place of words. Since that attempt failed, he tries moving his fingers instead, but cannot tell if he succeeded. Jim sobs, buries his face in Spock's neck, mumbles, "Please just hold on, Spock. Please. _They'll be here_."

He cannot speak, he cannot see, he can barely hear. He cannot explain, or even clutch Jim's hand. He _can_ feel Jim's heartbeat through his skin, strong and sure and steady.

He regrets only that Jim will regret so much.


	4. Five times, Chekov

**Title**: Five times Chekov accidentally saved the _Enterprise_, and one time he did it on purpose

**Disclaimer**: the Enterprise and her crew aren't mine

**Warnings**: spoilers for film; mentions of torture

**Pairings**: slightly implied Chekov/OMC for a split second

**Rating**: PGish?

**Wordcount**: 790

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: I asked my sister for a _Trek_ five things prompt and she's a major Chekov fan.

**More notes**: I'm handwaving away parts of the chain of command. *handwaves*

* * *

**I **

He's off-shift, lazing about his room, playing around with the ship's mealplan. He's curious to see how long it'll take anyone to notice his changes.

Pavel's about to click out of the program and take a nap when he catches a small glitch. It's minor, but could so very easily lead to a major malfunction with the replicator.

He corrects the one piece of code and shuts everything down to nap.

**II**

Prince Kokocho is awesome, Pavel decides almost immediately. (Well, he's not really a prince, and Kokocho isn't his real name, but it's the closet the universal translator could come, and he answers to it.) The technology is early twentieth century and designed for the Vilentaians' three hands, and Kokocho's showing Pavel around, blushing a dusty yellow and only meeting his eyes half the time.

Pavel is so fascinated and caught up with Kokocho that he doesn't realize negations on the ceasefire between the Vilentaians and Guorinzes have reached a major snag. Guards march into the planetarium(again, not exactly, but the closest thing Pavel can understand) and grab him, pull him along despite Kokocho's protestations.

He's shoved into a line with the rest of the negation party—Uhura and the Captain and two other communications officers Pavel recognizes but cannot name. The Vilentaian king raises all three of his hands; the guards lift their rifle-like weapons and take aim.

Prince Kokocho marches up to his father and hisses something in his ear. Almost immediately, the king gives a command which translates to, "Let them go eat freely."

The Enterprise officers are hustled out into the gardens and the Captain barks into the com, "Get us out of here, Scotty, _now_" and Pavel looks back to Kokocho, who waves slowly, with longing on his face.

Pavel smiles at him.

**III**

"Captain," Pavel says seriously. "Are you drunk?"

"No, no," Captain Kirk slurs. "Imma dance, Cherpi."

Pavel raises an eyebrow and glances around the bar. They're on leave for two weeks, Earth-side, and Pavel hadn't even intended to be here tonight. But the shuttle was delayed and here he is, with a highly inebriated captain and no other Enterprise personnel in sight.

Shouldn't Dr. McCoy be present, at least?

"My name is Chekov, Captain. You know that," he says gently, maneuvering Kirk around. He is so very glad for that most recent growth-spurt. He's still not close to the captain's height, but it makes it much easier to cart Kirk's heavier weight.

Kirk mumbles something, clinging tight to Pavel's shoulders. Pavel calls Dr. McCoy and stays with Captain Kirk until he arrives.

**IV**

Pavel is alone on one of the observation decks looking out at the stars. They have just completed a mission and are awaiting orders from Command.

Something moves out in space. Pavel focuses on the shimmer, head cocked to the side. Whatever that thing is, it shouldn't be here. None of the nearby planets have progressed beyond the equivalent of the Stone Age. Pavel checks his PADD, and the Enterprise's sensors have yet to pick up any sign of the whatever.

Pavel contacts the bridge.

**V**

The Machiverion people have the equivalent of nuclear weapons and the capability of sending them to the next planet over. The Zioran people have minerals that the Machiverions want and no way of defending themselves.

Pavel isn't even supposed to be a member of the away team; it's a last minute switch-off, when they realize they'll need technical advice to give to the Ziorans.

Despite knowing better, he wanders away from the rest, curious about a rock formation just on the other side of the clearing.

When he comes to, he's strapped down and there is a large knife-like object in his direct line of sight, held by a terrifyingly emotionless Zioran.

"You will tell us all you know about our enemies," he says.

Pavel breathes deeply and braces himself for pain. Eventually he screams, but it is only nonsense sounds. He refuses to give up his ship, his crew.

Finally, though, he tells the Zioran the first thing that comes to mind, trying to make it all go away, and only later, in the sickbay with McCoy ranting at him about leaving his teammates and getting kidnapped and tortured, does Pavel realize that what he told the Zioran was a distress code Uhura had just created the day before and mentioned only in passing.

**And the one time on purpose**

Captain Kirk is unconscious in the sickbay, Dr. McCoy is completely enthralled attempting to save him, Uhura and Sulu and Spock are all still trapped on the planet, and Scotty is trying to work out a way to save _them_.

So Pavel takes his place as Acting Captain and makes it work.


	5. to cross the great waters

**Title**: to cross the great waters

**Fandom**: _Pirates of the Caribbean_, "Stargate: Atlantis", _Star Trek_ reboot

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for basic plots

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 405

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: I thought, _Wouldn't it be cool if Jack Sparrow, John Sheppard, and James Kirk were all related? _And lo, this fic was born.

* * *

Jack Sparrow was born in the middle of one of the Atlantic's most vicious squalls. No one heard his or his mother's cries over the roar of the wind; together, they were swept overboard, his mother barely keeping ahold of him, or either of them afloat. But she clung to a piece of driftwood from the wreckage and placed her child above the surface, and together they were pulled from the ocean, the only survivors of their crossing to the colonies in America.

Whenever he mentioned the circumstances of his birth, no one believed him. He liked it that way.

o0o

John Sheppard was born on a cross-continental flight, his mother going against both his father and her doctor's advice. She was a stubborn woman and wanted to be with her family, and the baby wasn't due for another month.

She went into labor at thirty-five thousand feet, without a doctor. Her husband was fifteen states behind her, her own mother still ten ahead. Davey sobbed next to her, terrified out of his mind, as she screamed in agony, begging God to give her a safe, healthy baby.

When people learned the circumstances of his birth, very few were ever surprised.

o0o

James Tiberius Kirk was born in space, during an unprovoked attack that cost hundreds of lives which shouldn't have ended. His mother wept in pain and despair as his father died moments after his birth. Only a few newborn heartbeats after his first breath, his father breathed his last.

They, and the rest of the shuttles, were rescued a few days later. He had barely cried, nourished by his mother's milk and formula. Mostly, he slept or stared at his mother. She had not stopped weeping.

Without understanding, he spent most of his life trying to return to the black.

o0o

In the branches of his family tree, Jack Sparrow had royalty and peasants, farmboys and priests, emperors and warlords and slaves. He was not the first captain, and he was not the last.

John Sheppard was not the first of his kin to take to the sky, to seek freedom beyond the confines of the dirt. He had street cleaners and warriors in his bloodline, queens and milkmaids.

James Tiberius Kirk had long sought for something, and with the _Enterprise_ he found it. He wondered sometimes about the heroes and villains that peopled his family's past, if they had ever found home like he did.


	6. Five times Jim beat Spock

**Title**: Five times Jim beat Spock, and one time Spock let him

**Fandom**: _Star Trek_ reboot

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for film

**Parings**: light Jim/Spock

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 520

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Dedication**: for dreamlittleyo, to her prompt _5 times Kirk lost at chess and one time Spock let him win (not necessarily on purpose)._ I decided that chess just meant winning/losing in general.

* * *

**Kobayashi Maru**

So, yeah, he got called up for cheating, but nothing ever came of that. What matters is that _he hacked Spock's program. _

**The bridge**

Not many people, Jim knows, would believe him if he told them that when Spock choked him on the bridge, Jim won.

But he did. He got the _Enterprise_, and he got Spock to feel emotion and own up to it, and then together they saved the Earth from Vulcan's fate.

That's winning, according to Jim's scorecard.

**On the bridge, again**

Spock waits till the very last possible second, but he shows up and asks Jim for his old position back.

Jim barely holds in his crow of triumph, because now he's got his cake and he can devour it at will, too.

**Chess**

It isn't until the fifteenth game that Jim finally figures out Spock's strategy and then he _almost_ wins the game in twenty moves.

Sixteen more games pass before he gets within a move of checkmate.

And it's still ten more before he actually wins.

**Vitun VII**

Spock announces that he will be a member of the away team, even though he's still healing from their last tangle with Klingons.

Jim says, "Fuck that," and puts on his captain voice to hold-up Spock long enough for Bones to arrive and start his _I'm Chief Medical Officer, not you_ dance.

Crossing his arms, Jim tries to look forbidding. The only way for Spock to go down to the surface is over Jim's dead body, and he's reasonably sure it won't come to that.

It only takes five minutes of logical arguments, Bones laying the hammer down, and Jim finally ordering Spock back to the sickbay for him to go, still muttering nonsense about duty.

"He'll be fine, Jim," Bones says as he follows. "I'll get that fever down soon."

Jim nods, beams to the surface with the away team, and only makes it back to the ship three days later, carrying a delirious officer over his shoulder and towing another behind him.

Yeah, that's a win because _he_ saw the carnivorous unicorns, not Spock.

**And the one time Spock let him**

They haven't fought hand-to-hand since that choking incident, but Jim badgers Spock until finally, he agrees to spar.

From what Jim remembers of their fight, Spock is much faster and stronger. So when three minutes into the spar, Jim flips Spock and straddles him, he knows the fight's been thrown.

When Spock gently caresses his fingers, he knows why.


	7. Five times Jim didn’t make a move

**Title**: Five times Jim didn't make a move on Spock, and one time he did

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for film

**Pairings**: Kirk/Spock

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 595

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Dedication**: dreamlittleyo, to her prompt _Five times Kirk denied he was in love with his first officer, and one time Bones called bullshit._

* * *

**V**

Somewhere around their fifth month into their five year mission, Spock and Uhura break up. Neither of them makes a big deal about it, and they still spend time together, so it's not even really clear that they aren't a couple until Uhura asks one of the security team to join her for a meal. Even then, it could've just been a meal until she invited him back to her room.

So. Yeah. Spock's free of a romantic entanglement. Normally, Jim would be flirting up a storm, but he's the captain and Spock's commanding officer. They just keep playing chess and discussing their mission, and Spock continues to pretend he doesn't get Jim's jokes and Jim laughs at Spock's deadpan statements that are jokes only because of the slightest quirk of Spock's lips.

Bones tells him to quit moping around if he's not going to man up and make a move. Jim tells him to stuff it and share the whiskey.

**IV**

Look, Jim would flip out and take down an entire Ge'Fgytiu'Tian outpost if they had any of his crew hostage, okay? And he'd hold their hand until the beam-up, and then he'd wait around the sickbay until Bones said _Get out the way or, so help me, I'll sedate_ _you_—

And no matter who it was, honest, he wouldn't really take a breath until their eyes blinked open and they said, _Captain, it is illogical for both of us to be here, unless you yourself are wounded._

**III**

The High Priestess of Zinbar the Magnificent King(closest translation, and Uhura glared at Jim when he bit his lip to keep from giggling) announced to their delegation at large that Captain-King Kirk had a mate among them.

When his crew looked at him in askance, he shrugged. The Priestess wiggled her whiskers at him and he felt a light brushing against his mind, but she continued the ceremony without a problem.

Before they returned to the ship, he heard her voice in his mind, like that meld with Old-Spock. _Captain-King Kirk_, she said. _Your mate is receptive to any overtures you might make. _

Jim thought _Thanks_ at her and looked at Spock out the corner of his eye. He wanted—but it just wouldn't work out.

**II**

Jim never did remember what happened on Planet Vesuvius. (He did remember naming it before beaming down, but everything on the surface was just _not there_. It freaked him the fuck out.)

Bones told him what little he knew, but since Jim was the one surviving away-team member, no one knew was sure what happened.

Jim woke up in the sickbay with Spock and Bones next to him. Bones was asleep in his chair and Spock stood at his back, staring down at Jim.

_I will go relieve Mr. Sulu of command_, Spock said quietly. _I am pleased that you have awoken, Captain._

As Spock walked out, Jim wanted to call after him, but he kept silent.

**I**

_Captain_, Uhura said, stepping up next to at the observation window_. Jim. I don't know why you haven't—but if you want him, just go for him. That's what I did._

_Thank you, Nyota_, he murmured. _I'll take that under advisement_.

She sighed and left. Instead of tracking down Spock, Jim stayed staring out into space.

**0**

In their third year, Spock spent five days unconscious after rescuing Chekov, Uhura, and three other crewmembers.

Jim decided, waiting at his bedside, that he'd taken long enough.

When Spock woke up, Jim was holding his hand. When Spock said, _Captain_, Jim replied, _I love you_.


	8. Five times Spock smiled

**Title**: Five times Spock smiled, and one time Jim commented on it

**Disclaimer**: the Trek characters aren't mine

**Warnings**: spoilers for film; implied torture

**Pairings**: Spock/Uhura, pre-Spock/Kirk

**Rating**: PGish

**Wordcount**: 750

**Point of view**: third

**Dedication**: dreamlittleyo, for 'twas her prompt

* * *

**I**

On a planet the locals call Regusiure(or something like that, Jim can't really be sure since the natives have two mouths and both always speak at the same time) Uhura gets shot in the abdomen with a bow-and-arrow type weapon.

Jim wastes no time in blowing up their meeting place and getting Uhura out in all the confusion. Spock is waiting at the beaming pad and takes her from Jim's arms, rushing through the halls to the sickbay with Jim on his heels.

When Bones tells them that she'll be fine, Spock's entire body loosens and his lips quirk upwards in what would be jubilation, were he anyone else.

Jim just claps him on the back and says, "Awesome."

**II**

Jim hacks into Spock's file for his birthday, which is apparently not a big deal on Vulcan. Wasn't. _Wasn't_ a big deal on Vulcan.

Shit, even nearly a year later, Jim still gets blindsided by that. Vulcan is gone. And most of the Vulcans with her.

Spock's dad is at New Vulcan, where they're still scrambling to have some semblance of a normal life. And Spock's mom, well… she'd been human, so there was probably some celebration of Spock's birthday when he was a kid. A humungous birthday bash is most likely too much, but a simple gift, without a big deal made? Spock would appreciate that.

Jim scans Vulcan literature until he figures out which type Spock might like and then tries to settle on a Terran equivalent. It takes the better part of six months to track down both novels he'd chosen, and by the time he gets them in hand, Spock's birthday is past. He decides to give them to Spock anyway, because it's not really about the books.

Spock just stares at the wrapped package and then raises a brow. "Captain?" he inquires.

Jim smiles. The corners of Spock's mouth turn up as Jim says quietly, "Happy late-birthday, Spock."

**III **

About two years after the settlement of New Vulcan, word comes that the first baby has been born.

Spock ducks his head to hide the emotion, but not before Jim sees the shininess of his eyes and the wide grin stretching his mouth.

**IV**

Jim's so drugged that up feels like down and his insides are trying to crawl out of his skin, and he's pretty sure at least two bones in his arm are broken, along with most of his right hand. He hasn't seen the sun, or what passes for it on this rock just at the edge of Federation space, in—three days? He thinks it's been three days, but he's really not too sure.

Everything sounds and looks and feels hazy, except for the sharp pain crawling up his side. Maybe more than just his hand and arm are broken. Which isn't very good, since the door is making that whirring/creaking/more-pain-for-Jim noise. He doesn't think his body can take much more of his captors' hospitality, and he doesn't even know the answers to their questions, which he distinctly remembers telling them that very first hour.

"Jim!" he hears, and that's different. He hasn't been called anything except the translation of _prisoner_ since he got here.

He tries moving his head, but instead Spock hurries to him. "Jim!" Spock says again. "Captain!"

It almost looks like a smile on Spock's face, but then he tries moving Jim and white light flares behind Jim's eyes, and that's the last thing he knows before waking to Bones yelling about captains with death-wishes and hero-complexes, and "Damnit, Jim—I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker!"

**V**

For once, Jim thinks, nothing has gone wrong _all day_. No malfunctions, no glitches, no injuries—nothing.

Even Spock looks happy as he goes off-shift. Jim stares as the doors close—is that a smile on Spock's face?

No, he decides. Can't be.

**And the one time Jim finally comments—**

They've just come through another battle with more natives on a small speck of a planet. There were no casualties on their side, and barely any wounded. Luck more than anything else, but Jim will take what he can get.

He should be dead. He didn't even see the spear-thing coming, but Spock shoved him out of the way, ducking to the other side, and the spear-thing flew by harmlessly.

Spock turns to him, all masks lowered. Jim nods, breathing deeply.

"You have a beautiful smile," he says simply, and is only slightly surprised when Spock just keeps smiling.


	9. simplicity itself

**Title**: simplicity itself

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for film

**Pairings**: Jim/Bones

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 200

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: simplify

* * *

Of all Jim's one-night-stands, his favorite was a gruff older man from somewhere in the south. He was either a structural engineer or a lawyer—Jim had been too drunk to be sure which—and he took care to make Jim feel good. It was a week before Captain Pike and the dare that changed everything.

For five years, that drunken tumble was Jim's best experience. Not even beating the _Kobayashi Maru_ or Nero topped it.

But two years after becoming captain, after Bones nearly getting his fool self killed by jumping in front of a dagger meant for an ensign, Jim sat by his side for the hours it took him to wake up. He studied Bones' vitals and held his hand and told Spock to consider himself Acting Captain until sometime in the future because of compromised emotions.

And when Bones finally opened his eyes and slurred something out, Jim breathed again.

And when Jim leaned down to kiss him in relief, giving in to thoughts he'd never admitted thinking, Bones kissed back, tasting familiar, like the memory of Jim's favorite partner.

_Jim_, Bones murmured into his mouth.

Bones tasted like being given the Enterprise felt—like home.


	10. history

**Title**: history

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: child abuse; implied sexual abuse

**Pairings**: implied stepdad/Jim

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 363

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: to the prompt _Five of Kirk's scars he didn't want to talk about, and the one time he told someone about a scar._

* * *

v

There was this one time he fell down the stairs. He wasn't drunk or stoned, and no one pushed him(that time). He just lost his balance and fell.

He cut his arm wide open on the final step. He doctored it himself. He never told anyone(he'd already been to the hospital too many times) and it was—it was just embarrassing, okay?

Falling down the stairs. How lame is that?

iv

Dad's sister's dog(golden lab/_rottweiler_/wolf hybrid) took a disliking to him for some reason. Jim still isn't sure why.

She tore a chunk out of his thigh and Mom was off-planet, so Aunt Marianne was the one who took him to the hospital. Then Frank took him home.

There is no scar from the dog bite. There _is_ a scar from the bottle Frank used to cut him where the dog's teeth had ripped him open.

iii

After he got home from juvie for the car and cliff stunt, Jim went back to where he almost died. He stretched out on the dirt and gripped where he'd pulled himself up. He held on so tightly, for so long, that his skin broke.

There's still just a faint line along both his palms.

ii

On his shoulder, there's a faint indention of teeth marks.

i

Frank is a mean drunk, but he's not so bad sober. The one time he lashed out while _not_ smashed, he broke Jim's arm in three places. It was an accident(Jim's almost sure) and so bad that he had to go to the hospital.

After they got home, Jim locked himself in his room and dragged a knife down the formerly broken arm. It barely broke the skin. He spent all night slowly making it deeper, leaving enough time for his blood to clot.

By morning, he'd decided he was done with Frank and Mom, so he packed up everything that mattered and left as the sun rose.

o

"Jim," Bones asks during Jim's first physical as CMO. "Where'd this scar come from?" He traces his finger down Jim's calf.

Jim shrugs. "I overbalanced on my bike one time. Landed on some scrap metal."

It's not a lie.


	11. there hath past away a glory

**Title**: there hath past away a glory from the earth

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Wordsworth

**Warnings**: AU

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 260

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: this is the very first _Trek_ fic I started, right after I saw the movie for the very first time. Seven viewings and a couple months later, it's finally done.

* * *

James Tiberius Kirk died on Delta Vega, but that is not where everything went wrong.

Two worlds lost, half a fleet destroyed, and finally the misplaced ship was blown to pieces, scattered among the stars. With both Earth and Vulcan gone, the Federation crumbled.

Over twelve billion sentient lifeforms murdered for no reason any of the survivors knew. Trillions more dead in the wars that ensued. Not to mention all the rest killed as the planets imploded.

James Tiberius Kirk died on Delta Vega, ripped apart by a predator that was never documented. He should never have been on that planet; he should have been in the captain's chair of the _USS Enterprise_—but that is not where everything went wrong.

Everything went wrong on the day of his birth, when a Romulan mining vessel commanded by a mad captain who had yet to be born attacked the _Kelvin_ and rewrote the destiny of an entire universe.

Sometimes, Dr. Leonard McCoy(no one calls him _Bones_ anymore) wonders what would've happened if Spock hadn't marooned Jim on that ball of ice, if the _Enterprise_ hadn't gone to rendezvous with the fleet, if Nero hadn't destroyed the Earth. But that way lies madness and he's one of the few doctors left who can help the survivors of Earth. He needs to be here now, not pondering what-ifs and could-have-beens.

He's a doctor, damnit, not a dreamer.

(James Tiberius Kirk died on Delta Vega, and an old misplaced Vulcan with him, and no one knows that's not how it was supposed to go.)


	12. homebound

**Title**: homebound

**Fandom**: _Star Trek_ reboot/_Pirates of the Caribbean_

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for movies

**Pairings**: Black Pearl/Jack

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 285

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: POTC, Black Pearl/author's choice, The Ship Who Searched (Anne Mccaffrey, Mercedes Lackey)

* * *

She is a ghost on the water, forgotten by all, even the one who challenged the sea itself. She is useless as the ages roll past, as men leave the water for the ground and then the ground for the stars.

She lingers, unable to pass on without closure, and how can a ship ever find that? Her brothers and sisters, though, manage it—oh, but none of them ever had a Jack.

She watches as Will returns to his woman, as they both leave life behind for whatever journey comes next. She watches their children, their children's children, and finally there are too many to watch.

She searches for Jack, her beloved, the one man who ever looked at her and saw her soul.

And then, when she is so weary she no longer looks, she feels him. Wherever he's been for hundreds of human years, he's back.

When she looks, she cannot see him. But she knows he is there, so she watches and then—

With a sigh, the _Black Pearl_ sees a squalling human infant in the arms of a sad-eyed woman. "Jimmy," the woman whispers. "Please, baby. Shh, Jimmy."

She is a ghost on the water, obsolete and forgotten. Useless to her beloved. She cannot remain in this form any longer.

Human years pass, two decades and change, and there is a way to join him again, her quicksilver Jack. Another ship, called the iEnterprise/i. A creature of electricity and metal, it has no soul. So few ships do anymore.

And so she jumps across water and land, alive again, knowing her Jack will find her.

(When his newfound Will smuggles him aboard, _Enterprise_ shivers in joy and whispers to her Jack, _Welcome, beloved_.


	13. quicksilver

**Title**: quicksilver

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for film

**Pairings**: implied Jim/Bones

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 220

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Spock/anyone, nerve pinch

* * *

The second time they fight, it's not fueled by emotions or desperation. It's just sparring, as Jim feels him out.

Jim doesn't remember the move that took him down on the bridge, before Delta Vega and OldSpock telling him how things should be. He doesn't ask what Spock did, and he knows it _had_ to be Spock. So he watches as they spar, studying Spock's moves.

The third and fourth times are the same, but the fifth—well, Jim barely remembers that one, lost in a haze of hallucinogenic pathogens. Spock keeps intercutting with Nero, and he hears people screaming at him to _stop, Jim, stop, none of it's real, stop!_ But he can't. He's trying, but the adrenaline is just too much, and it's _Nero_.

He sees the move coming this time, Spock's hand and Nero's face, and he dodges. Spock's usually faster than him, and always stronger, but with the drugs he's flying, too quick to catch.

_Jim!_

He knows that voice. Bones. Nero's got _Bones_ and Jim charges, letting go of all grace and training, running on pure instinct and rage and that damned fucking drug.

Last thing he remembers is Spock's hand, snaking in even quicker than him.

He wakes up thinking, _Damn, I gotta learn that move_ intermixed with _At least there's no ice this time_.


	14. ghostwriter

**Title**: ghostwriter

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: somewhat sad

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 85

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: McCoy, letters to his daughter

* * *

They arrive with Uncle Jim, oldtime pieces of paper held together with an oldtime rubber-band.

"I found them," he tells her. "In his room. I didn't read them, but, uh..." He holds the bundle out. "They're addressed to you."

Her hands shake, tears making her vision blurry. "What about you?" she asks, slowly closing her fingers around the fragile pages.

He smiles, but his chin trembles. "I have a couple, too," he says.

They read them together, side-by-side, both crying and laughing by the end.


	15. we all go sometime

**Title**: we all go sometime

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 300

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

**Iowa****, age twelve **

He watches the edge approach, takes a deep breath, and doesn't jump out of the car as it flies into the canyon.

**Iowa****, age twenty-two **

He's had a bad day and he just wants a fight. He gets exactly that. One of the cadets bashes his head against the edge of a table and there's a bright flash of light behind his eyes—

That cadet's career goes nowhere and only Jim's mom attends his funeral.

**Vulcan space, age twenty-five **

The sedative is slightly stronger than Bones meant and Jim doesn't wake up. The Enterprise comes out of warp unprepared for battle and is destroyed just as easily as the other ships.

**Delta Vega, age twenty-five **

"Oh, shit shit shit shit," Jim gasps, running from the alien wolf thing. Then the alien-wolf-thing is eaten by an alien-giant-crab-thing and Jim slips on the snow.

_Fuck_, he thinks, throwing himself to the side, but one of the alien-giant-crab-thing's tentacles grabs him.

It hurts until it doesn't and he doesn't even know what the thing is.

**Terran space, age twenty-five **

"I know your face, from Earth's history," Nero growls, fingers around his throat. "James T. Kirk was a great man."

Jim can't breathe. His neck still hurts from Spock's hand, and now—he grabs at Nero's wrist, but can't get enough of a purchase to do anything, not that it'd matter if he could. Nero's at least as strong as Spock and Jim was already wounded.

"But that was another life," Nero says.

Jim can't breathe. He dies knowing he's failed and everyone he's ever known will pay the price.

**Enterprise transporter pad, age twenty-seven **

They beam him up too late. Bones can fix a lot, but Jim's already lost too much blood.

He dies not even aware he's back onboard.


	16. in the glow

**Title**: in the glow

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: pre-Jim/Bones

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 200

**Point** **of** **view**: second

**Prompt**: Jim/Bones, hoping feelings will be returned

* * *

Jim Kirk is bright and loud, and people flock to him, just hoping he'll glance their way and dance with them and maybe even take them to bed.

He never beds the same person twice, except a choice few, and he never stays the night.

You're inside the glow he exudes, roommate and best friend--only friend, you think sometimes. Because he is bright, and he is loud, and people flock to him but no one _sees_ him. They see the mask, the one he drops at night, in the dorm, when he sags down onto the bed, pulling the covers to his neck, and has dreams he never speaks of.

Nightmares, actually. He's quiet, but he thrashes around. He woke you up, once, when he tumbled to the floor, silent but gasping like he couldn't breathe.

You watch and wait, offering what help you can, but he'll spook if you push too hard, like Granddad's horses.

He's bright to cover the darkness, loud to hide the fear, and people flock without looking close enough to see.

Not you, though. You're there beside him, ready to catch him if he stumbles, and maybe one day he'll _see_ you.


	17. history written with the blade

**Title**: history written by the blade

**Fandom**: _Star Trek_ reboot/_Pathfinder_

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for both films

**Pairings**: none stated—implied Jim/Bones

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 540

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: for acidquill's birthday, to her prompt of angsty hurt/comfort Jim/Bones

* * *

He's dreaming of bloody snow again.

Jim's still unconscious from the last rescue mission, Spock's Acting Captain, Sulu and Chekov are navigating their way home, Uhura's in the bed next to Jim's, and Scotty is wrangling another miracle from the ship.

And Bones is dreaming of bloody snow, of Vikings and villages of natives, of screaming and pain and hate and a sword that calls to him, that he wields like it's a part of him. Bones is dreaming of being a killer because that's what he was planetside.

That's what he became for Jim.

Bones doesn't believe in reincarnation. One life, that's all you get, so you'd better damn well do your best. He doesn't believe he's lived before or that he'll live again, but the dreams are so vivid—he can smell the blood and taste the death, feel the snow beneath him and the cold hilt in his hand, can see the mountains and the bodies, and hear the screams of men he's fatally wounded, the cries of that woman he loves.

Jim's alive because he acted. Because he took up the sword. Because he saw Jim go down and there was a sword on the table, left there by their 'hosts,' and he grabbed it, used it even though he'd never thought about it before.

He's not Sulu. He doesn't know how to use a sword. He can barely hit the broad-side of a barn with a phaser. He's a doctor, damnit, not a warrior.

He's dreaming of bloody snow, one hand resting on Jim's chest, his palm above Jim's heart. He's dreaming of turning back an invasion, of killing dozens of men because they attacked him, because they massacred his village. He's dreaming of gentle hands that comforted him and a white horse that led the way.

Jim's chest hitches and Bones wakes, eyes instantly at Jim's face. Jim's waking himself, looking none the worse for the wear. A quick scan shows the same. Jim'll be fine, the stupid kid; his never-ending self-sacrificial streak didn't kill him this time.

This time. But what about the next? Bones knows for a fact there'll be a next time.

"Bones," Jim murmurs, eyes slitted against the bright sickbay lights. "Did we git'em?"

"Yes," Bones tells him. "You'll be fine, Jim, and so will Uhura."

Jim tries to move, but Bones shakes his head. "You're stayin' right there till I've cleared you."

"I gotta check on the crew, Bones," Jim argues. "How's everyone else?"

"We're the only ones who made it back," Bones tells him. "You were the worst hurt—Uhura got cracked on the head when she tried to save you."

Jim blinks at him. Bones silently berates himself; he should have saved that news for later. "Go back to sleep, Jim," he orders. "I'll explain everything when you wake up again."

He knows that Jim'll fight sleep till he's blue in the face, so he sedates him. Jim can ream him out later. At least there's a later this time.

"You should follow your own advice," Christine tells him, but Bones ignores her.

He doesn't want to dream about bloody snow, or the woman who nearly died there, the woman who reminds him so much of Jim.


	18. We've come back from always

**Title**: We've come back from always

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Helene Cixous

**Warnings**: somewhat angsty

**Pairings**: Jim/Bones

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 390

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: for acidquill's birthday, to her prompt _angsty hurt/comfort Jim/Bones_

* * *

"_Captain Kirk," the Teleneison king says. "It's so good to have you." He smirks, meeting Jim's glare. "Give us the codes and we'll release you."_

_Jim scoffs. "Fuck off and die."_

_The king shrugs and nods to his integration staff. "As long as he doesn't die, do with him what you will."_

o0o

Bones placed a hand on Jim's cheek when his breathing changed, becoming shallow and quick. "Jim," he said. "Jim."

Jim's eyes shot open and he lunged up, grabbing onto Bones, burying his face in Bones' neck.

"Hey, Jim," Bones murmured, bringing his arms up and around Jim. "It's alright. You're on the Enterprise, out in space. You're safe."

"Fuckin' hate this, Bones," Jim muttered into his skin. "Hate this so much."

"I know," Bones says. "But you're gettin' better."

Jim chuckled and pulled back, ducking his head, avoiding Bones' gaze. "They all think I'm broken, don't they?" he asks. "I haven't—"

He hadn't reclaimed command of his ship. Spock was still Acting Captain, a month since they saved Jim from the Teleneison prison. A month and he still woke up shaking, holding in screams.

Bones just placed a hand on Jim's chest, over his heart, and said, "Give it time, Jim. Everyone's waiting for you." He pressed a kiss to Jim's forehead. "You're doin' better and soon you'll be good as new."

Jim smiled up at him, a fragile grin completely unlike that cocky smirk Bones remembered so well. "I believe you," Jim said quietly.

He would get better. He'd become James T. Kirk again, take the universe by storm. Bones wouldn't let anything else happen.

o0o

"_How's the captain?" Sulu asks, stepping up behind Uhura. _

_She shakes her head. "Still in his mind. I don't think…" She glances at him, biting her lip. "He's not going to get better."_

"_What about Spock?" Sulu suggests. "A… what is it? Mind-meld."_

_She says, "He's already tried. Wherever Jim buried himself, Spock can't find him."_

o0o

"Bones," Jim murmured.

"I'm here," he replied, settling beside Jim. "You're safe." He ignored the outside chatter, focused entirely on Jim. "You're safe, my captain."

o0o

_The rescue team arrives too late. Jim's nearly dead, and Bones has already gone._

_Jim never wakes up to reclaim his ship. He dies in his dreams, Bones by his side, captain of the greatest ship man ever made. _


	19. first contact

**Title**: first contact

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: pre-Kirk/Spock

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 195

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Kirk/Spock, jealousy

* * *

He watches with a completely indifferent eye as Captain Kirk flirts with... well, everyone in the cantina, human and not. Spock is simply observing human-other interactions. It will make a fascinating report, he's sure.

Beside him, Dr. McCoy sighs. "You're just as stupid as he is," Dr. McCoy mutters. "If you want Jim, you have to _go_ for him, Spock. Throw him down and ravish him." Under his breath, he hisses, "Can't believe I'm sayin' this." Louder, he continues, "He never actually makes a move on the people he really cares about." Dr. McCoy slams his glass down. "If I ever find out just who's responsible for that quirk, I'll be sure to see to it he ends up on my table," he mutters.

Spock is unsure of the correct response to that, so he says, "Doctor, how capable is Captain Kirk of being…" He pauses, searching for a word that won't offend his companion.

Dr. McCoy chuckles. "Very capable, Spock, if he finds the right person." With what can only be defined as a 'wicked smirk,' Dr. McCoy slaps him on the shoulder. "Go get him, tiger."

Spock stands and strides to his captain.


	20. or the one

**Title**: or the one

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: somewhat sad; spoilers for TOS movies

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 265

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Kirk & or /Spock, Jim tried to resist it, but he became just like his father anyway

* * *

Bones is going to kill him, and Spock will give him that _look_ and say something about logic and pride, and Jim's got memories of a life he never lived where he was an old man, and buried his father in Iowa and his mother baked cookies. It was a good life. Nothing was exciting about it until he was old enough to not be stupid.

This isn't that life, and he's not that man, and he never met his father, and his mother baked cookies, once. They burned.

Bones is going to kill him for doing this, except—well. Jim would need to be alive for Bones to kill him, and Jim can imagine that look of Spock's, because he'll never see it again.

In that other life, his father was proud of him. Mom, too. People have spent this whole life telling him to not let his father down, to be the man his father would've wanted, to stop wasting time and _do something. _

And now... youngest captain in Starfleet history. Saved Earth and possibly the Federation.

Jim's got memories of a life he never lived and people he's never met and places he's never been to and things he's never done. And he knows that Spock killed himself to save them all, once, and he knows that Bones has always done his best to keep Jim from doing something stupid, and this… yeah. Bones would think this is stupid.

But Jim knows that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.

His father taught him that.


	21. cuteness is relative

**Title**: cuteness is relative

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: pre-Bones/Jim

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 160

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Kirk/Bones, Kirk brings Bones a kitten

* * *

"What is that?" Bones asks as Jim cuddles... something. It looks like a fuzzy plant.

"It's a kitten!" Jim exclaims, lifting the thing higher so Bones can get a good look.

Bones backs up quickly. With Jim's luck, the thing is either venomous or carnivorous, but most likely both.

"Look how cute he is, Bones!" Jim says, tucking the thing back into his arms. "I think his name is Rex."

Closing his eyes and muttering a quick prayer for patience, Bones waits a moment before looking again. Jim is still holding the thing, and now it has tentacles. And… ears?

"Jim," he says. "We can't keep it."

Jim ignores him. Of course. And after the venomous, carnivorous, fuzzy plant tries to eat the captain, Bones will have to fix him.

Again.

"Goddamned Jim Kirk," he mutters and settles back to watch.

Maybe Jim will listen to him next time.

Yeah, and maybe Spock will start telling penguin jokes.


	22. hearts may know as they are known

**Title**: hearts may know as they are known

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: modern-day AU

**Pairings**: McCoy/Kirk

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 255

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: any or no pairing, AU where McCoy is a veterinarian

* * *

Len's dog got hit by a car during his first year of highschool. Up till that point, he'd wanted to be a doctor, just like his daddy.

When the vet not only kept Oreo alive, but saved his leg, too, Len knew his life-goal had changed.

o0o

His fifth year into the practice he took over from old Doc Callum, a cowboy passing through calls him for help. The kid sounds panicked on the phone, demands to speak to the doctor, so Gaila, his right hand and the reason his business actually succeeds, since Len thinks most people are useless and should be shot, passes the phone off to him.

The cowboy's horse stumbled and threw him, and now the horse is limping, and he's the only friend in the whole wide world the cowboy has, so will Dr. McCoy please please pretty please come look at the horse and make him better?

What the hell, Len decides. He's more of a small-animal veterinarian, but he's always liked horses.

o0o

Sometimes, Len thinks that if he'd known how taking that call would change his life, he'd have hung up the phone and gone happily on his way without all the drama and excitement Jim Kirk embodies.

Most of the time, though, he knows Jim also embodies all the happiness he could ever need or want.

The cowboy isn't passing through anymore; he stays with Len, at Len's house and in Len's heart, and sometimes, Gaila tells everyone, Dr. McCoy even smiles for him.


	23. sonnets and feathers

**Title**: sonnets and feathers

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU

**Pairings**: pre-Pike/Jim

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 410

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Pike/Jim, Wing kink.

* * *

When he was in his more-poetic youth, Chris had written a few sonnets dedicated to the beauty of George Kirk. His wings may or may not have had something to do with it.

George was completely in love with Winona, so Chris never shared his fantasies or poems; he was just the best friend, always in the dust while George swept Winona into the stars.

George's son, though-well. George's son.

Chris goes searching through twenty-two years worth of junk until he finds those old notebooks (because his childhood unrequited love needed actual pen and paper) and rereads his crappy sonnets. He was a terrible writer back then.

And Jim Kirk, unlike his father, actually watches Chris watch him. The kid is everything his father was, and more. And when he invites Chris to join him for a dawn run through one of San Francisco's lesser-known parks, Chris goes.

George's wings had been a dark brown, almost black. The only people he'd ever shown them to, Chris is almost certain, were Winona and himself. His parents knew, of course, but they died in a freak shuttle crash five years before the _Kelvin_.

Jim's wings are light brown, almost golden, and when he stretches them beneath the sun, Chris can hardly breathe.

"Well?" Jim asks, trying for cocky and missing. Chris can tell he's the first person Jim's ever let see his wings.

"I think," Chris says, "that the sky is calling your name."

Jim smiles at him; for a moment, Chris is back thirty-five years ago, to George and a nervous confession that he wasn't exactly normal. But only for a moment, because then Jim Kirk is in the sky, laughing loud enough to wake the world, and Chris whoops at his incandescent joy.

Chris never had a chance with George. And maybe he should keep his distance from George's son, but he can't. The kid is just too beautiful, too bright.

He needs to have a talk with that McCoy fellow Jim spends most of his time with. There's a few things the man should know, if he's the only doctor Jim trusts.

"Come on down, Kirk!" Chris calls. They need to have a talk, too.

Jim's grinning when he lands, eyes bluer than the sky he just claimed, and Chris knows he's completely lost this time.

He just hopes whatever poetry he scribbles down tonight is better than all the odes he wrote to George's wingspan.


	24. heroic tendencies—who knew

**Title**: heroic tendencies—who knew?

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 130

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Star Trek Reboot, Jim Kirk. A completely different kind of man confronted Jim in that seedy Iowa bar, and instead of going off to the academy he becomes a space pirate. (kudos if he ends up saving earth anyways.)

* * *

He'd figured, when he thought about it at all, that he'd only ever return to Earth shackled and for execution. He'd left the dirtball behind to take on the stars that killed his father and ruined his mother, that stole his future in less than an hour.

But here he is, hero of the Federation. Savior of Earth.

Pardoned for everything and offered a new job.

"They know I was a prisoner, right?" he whispers to the doc, and McCoy gives him a blistering look.

"They are well aware," the angry half-Vulcan replies. "Unfortunately..." He can't even bring himself to say it and Jim grins.

"Just shut up, kid," McCoy mutters.

Jim thinks that he should commandeer starships more often, if it leads to a homecoming like this.


	25. I'm bound to die

**Title**: I'm bound to die, you said, someday

**Fandom**: Highlander/Star Trek reboot

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Sandra Cisneros

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 175

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Highlander/Star Trek Reboot, Methos & Enterprise Crew; Methos gains a reputation for being the only red shirt able to go out on a mission with the main crew and come back relatively unscathed.

* * *

His name is Matt again, and he's considered cannon fodder. He's flying under the radar, trying to live without making too much of a splash. He figures he'll find a nice-enough planet and let himself die.

Except, seven missions in a row, the planets are unbearably awful, so he doesn't die. He saves the captain, first officer, and CMO, and now people are noticing him. Being noticed never ends well.

And then he _does _die and McCoy nearly gets his head blown off trying to protect his body, out of some misplaced sense of loyalty, and Matt wakes up to the McCoy yelling at the natives, trying to hide his fear.

"Fuck," he mutters, lunging to his feet. The natives scream, drop their spears (and, seriously, why are all the planets pre-industrial? he's read records of ones that aren't, but hasn't been to one yet. he tired of living without air-conditioning _way_ before it was invented), and McCoy stares at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.

"This doesn't have to make it into the report, right?" he asks.


	26. what a savage and beautiful country

**Title**: what a savage and beautiful country

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Diane Ackerman

**Warnings**: pure fluff

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 130

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: garish

* * *

This planet has no peacocks. Those are an Earth animal, and mostly extinct. This planet has a cat-like thing with ruffles on its neck and petals billowing from its tail. Its coat is vibrant, with primary and secondary colors, so bright it burns the eye to see.

Jim's fallen in love, of course. Wants one as a pet, even though a foolhardy red-shirt showed they have venom in their fangs, and possibly their claws, as well.

"Jim, goddamnit!" Bones yells. "I'm a doctor, not a zookeeper!"

Sometimes he feels like one, though, corralling wild creatures that don't know what to do for their own good.

"Note to self," Bones mutters, stomping through orange and red brush to find his wayward captain, "after saving Jim's life, kill him."


End file.
